William Ryder, former owner and director of the now-closed Ryder Funeral Home in South Hadley, right, is handcuffed and led out of a courtroom at Hampshire Superior Court Nov. 18, 2017, after pleading guilty.

File Photo
/ Daily Hampshire Gazette

A Massachusetts court has accepted a nearly half-million dollar judgment against a former funeral home director in South Hadley.

William Ryder and the now-closed Ryder Funeral Home have agreed to pay $471,446 in restitution.

State Attorney General Maura Healey's office will manage that money, to compensate people who claim Ryder "misappropriated" money they prepaid for funeral arrangements.

It was nearly three years ago that a state inspector visited Ryder Funeral Home and found improperly stored bodies in various stages of decay.

The Ryder family began operating the funeral home in 1953. It's reopened under new ownership.

Ryder is now serving a one-year sentence at the Hampshire County House of Correction after pleading guilty last fall. His lawyer has attributed Ryder's actions to alcohol abuse and depression.